


a temporary infinity

by antinouswild



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, trigger warning for terminal illness and some frank discussions about death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 01:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1207174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antinouswild/pseuds/antinouswild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven Meeks has resigned himself to the fact that he's going to die young. That is, until Charlie Dalton unexpectedly shows up at his support group meeting. (based on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	a temporary infinity

Steven had always known that he was going to die someday. The thought of it had never really bothered him. Everyone died eventually, and he certainly wasn’t going to be an exception.

Still, that hadn’t made the news any easier.

It seems like certain things were just _made_ to break your heart. A terminally ill kid of one of those things. Steven had seen some of those kids’ stories in books or the Hallmark movies his grandmother watched religiously, but never in a million years did he think that he’d be one of them. It had always kind of scared him as a kid, the possibility of dying young. But he’d always reassure himself that it would never happen to him. It couldn't. But here’s the thing about tragedy- no one thinks they can fall victim to it- until they do.

He’d been thirteen when they got the diagnosis. It was stage II osteosarcoma, and apparently, one of the most common cancers among teens. His mother had wept when they found out, and Steven’s clearest memory of that day was her clinging to him for dear life, all the while whispering, ‘baby, baby, _my baby_ ’. He’d wanted to tell her not to cry. Clearly it had been a mistake. They’d gotten his results mixed up with some other poor kid’s. They must have. A few days later, someone from the hospital would call his parents, explaining that there had been a horrible error and not to worry, Steven was perfectly healthy.

Needless to say, that call never came.

The doctors had figured he would live to about fifteen or so. Steven was seventeen now, but he was still living on borrowed time. Although there were a number of days when he questioned whether or not he was living at all. Eventually, the cancer had gotten bad enough that his parents had to pull him out of school. Steven had gotten his GED and took classes at the community college, but his social life had seriously diminished as a result of not being at school. A few of his friends still came over once and a while, but for the most part, they stayed away. Not that he blamed them for it. They’d all outlive him, and he knew they were just trying to distance themselves so that when he did die, the heartbreak would be minimal. It was the reasonable thing to do, and he would have done the exact same had he been in their position.

So that was how Steven Meeks was spending his numbered days. Not leaving the house unless it was necessary, with his interactions with his parents serving as almost the only human contact he received. Pretty fucking pathetic, really. All of his (former) friends were experiencing what was supposed to be the best years of their lives, and there he was, locking himself away and waiting to die.

After all, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based (fairly heavily) on The Fault in Our Stars, so there WILL be some spoilers. The title was also inspired by a quote from the book. On a different note, this is the first major, non school-related writing I've done since seventh or eighth grade, so please be gentle!


End file.
